


Symbols in the Darkness

by Mesmeret



Series: End of an Empire [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage and Rey Are Related, Badass Rey, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Drug Use, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Organized Crime, Past Violence, Pre-Slash, Recreational Drug Use, Rey Needs A Hug, Siblings, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:55:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mesmeret/pseuds/Mesmeret
Summary: The crime world is turned upside down when Snoke's Hound murders him. Hux makes sure to go off the grid but is pulled back into society when he finds out his half-sister Rey was abducted for 8 hours.Part 1 of a series for Titleception 2020! Trying to tag this as best as possible. No graphic drug use written but there's a drug deal bust the results in mentioned deaths of the side characters.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: End of an Empire [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689682
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17
Collections: Kylux Titleception 2020





	Symbols in the Darkness

The land was in the early morning lull. The moon was barely there leaving the stars to take over the celestial theater. The highway and rail tracks were quirks of the landscape in these hours. Silent sisters of the Kootenay River flowing past the banks where the trains slow down for their arrival in Libby, Montana. Marked by a sandstone rock with a pine sap bottom.

Hux was enjoying the slight distortion of his gas mask visor while looking up at the sky. He couldn’t resist taking sips from his updated canteen system. The hot instant coffee left an aftertaste of artificial toffee. He licked his teeth deciding to take a quick piss before the morning rush.

He left his pack to relieve himself a few trees away. He checked his watch after zipping his pants. Last he heard, the train was delayed a half hour so he had twenty minutes to prep. He jogged over to his pack and did his rudimentary stretches. Once he felt capable, he put his pack on and jogged out past the trees to the tracks. He turned around as quickly as he could and ran back. He did two more before fully crossing the two rows of tracks. 

He panted and couldn’t help a holler. His filtration system was great. Hardly any condensation inside his mask. He leaned forward for a couple of breaths before stretching as much as he could with the pack and mask on.

Hux’s heart was beating steadily by the time the train horn drowned it out. He took a deep breath as his radio crackled. His thirty-five year old legs sprinted past the treeline and up the rocky incline. With years of practice, he jumped onto the guardrail of the dining car. The door was already open for him and two arms pulled him in. 

“Ugh, how can you deal with that whole getup?” Rey made retching noises as Murphy closed the door.

Hux chuckled and released the straps, “It’s one of the easier ways to be ignored in these woods.”

Rey sighed, “You stink as well, but give me a hug.”

Hux looked at his half sister with a sad smile and accepted her tight hug. He carefully patted her head. He let himself confess in her hair, “Sorry I wasn’t closer.”

She squeezed him even harder before backing away, “Enough of that. Breakfast service needs to be prepared. Go up to your room. It’s C in Rose’s car. Hard to miss.”

Hux shook his head before nodding to Murphy who was busy slicing fruit, “Morning, Murph.”

The balding older man gave a nod, “Get a shower too, boy. To your left.”

Hux frowned at the man and turned to Rey. She mouthed, “Talk later”. He sighed before walking up and made a left to walk to his room. It was in the second sleeper car and it truly was Rose’s domain. Soft sugary air freshener hit his nostrils, a fake rose wreath framed the sign announcing Rose’s car. The hallways were lined with garlands of fake roses and trivia about the Empire Builder’s route. 

Hux smiled as he entered the bedroom compartment. Rose left him with towel origami of a fox perched on his toiletry kit. He set his pack on the chair and checked the closet. There was a set of hangers with two outfits to choose from. His smile stayed on his face. He chose the unassuming navy t-shirt and grey sweatpants. The early fall had been temperate but he missed the comfort society offered. Even if it was roaming the countryside.

He braced himself when he opened the little wet room. For once Rose remembered to take out the toilet paper roll. It always bothered him to have paper constantly in a toilet/shower stall. He quickly shed his three day worn clothes and grabbed the towel and toiletry kit. He groaned at the scent of chemicals and body odor overpowering the soft spun sugar. He nearly walked over to Rose to ask her to dispose of his clothes. But as the train neared Libby for a passenger drop off, he shouldn’t walk the halls nude. Instead he kicked the clothes to the door and went into the stall to wash away the grime of drug manufacturing.

He sighed as the woodsy, musky soap did the trick. He did his best to condition his beard to get the annoying smoke residue from it. He was a bit cocky this weekend and thought he could play with some ratios. It paid off in the end but left its mark.

He wanted this beard gone but it wasn’t time yet. He sighed again and it turned into a yawn. He rinsed off and turned the water off. In the rumbling silence, he heard a knock. He opened the bath door and grabbed his towel. Fulling covering his waist, he opened the curtain of the door window. 

Rose was smiling at him, sweet as ever. He gave her a nod and reattached the curtain to the velcro. He quickly got dressed and unlocked the door. He toweled off his hair as she stumbled over his dirty clothes. She looked down at them, her smile breaking for a second before turning to leave. Sure enough she came back with a garbage bag and gloved hands.

“Finally remembered?” Hux thanked her in his own way.

She squinted at him before nodding, “Smells like you had some issues?”

“End product was above satisfactory,” Hux hung up his towel. “The fox was cute.”

“Aw, thanks! Anything else?” Rose stood nervously with the garbage bag in her hand.

Hux nodded, “How’s Rey doing?”

“Really?” Rose dropped the bag to cross her arms. “You seriously don’t know?”

Hux sat on the bed looking up at her cooly, “When I go off the grid, I go off the grid. Now, how is Rey?”

“She seems to be doing well enough. I can’t believe she came back to work so quickly afterwards. I mean, she has enough paid leave.”

“Has she told you what they looked like?” Hux did his best to look concerned.

Rose shook her head, “Just that she felt like it was a he.”

Hux nodded, “Thanks. You are a wonderful friend to her.”

Rose smiled before scolding him, “And you need to be a brother to her.”

Hux held back a laugh. Rose had the potential of being welcomed to the inner circle of his organization but she was still just a pawn. He got up to rummage through his pack. Once he found the pouch, he handed it to her, “I am her brother.”

Rose took the pouch but whispered with anger, “Hardly. She was abducted! I know you were near! You got on the Chief that day!”

Hux studied her eyes before smirking, “How astute of you. Now, think about what exactly we deal with. Who do you really think abducted Rey?”

Her brows furrowed as her lips pulled to utter a single syllable but the Breakfast Service announcements interrupted them. Rose cursed under her breath, “We aren’t finished, Armie.”

He nodded, “It wasn’t me, I can guarantee that. I’m assuming my breakfast will be prepared for a 10 am delivery?”

Rose glared at him intensely before leaving. He let his spine shudder as her footsteps went away. Deciding he wanted to sleep with a full belly, he grabbed his swiss army knife from his pack. 

He crouched down next to the sink and used the small screwdriver component to pop open the paneling. Flash drives were in a plastic bag taped to the back of the sink basin. He grabbed them and examined the makes and models. Two from his Louisiana office, one from Rey, and one he did not recognize. He felt curiosity instead of alarm since Rey’s little star stamp was etched into the plastic. Their version of authenticating unknown data.

He opened the drive cap and raised a brow. It had the intricate KR symbol painted inside. _The hound became a copycat?_

He didn’t know who abducted Rey eleven days ago. She was enjoying a night out with her crew friends in Chicago and was found late the next day slumped against the post office of Maple Hill, Kansas. Hux shook his head while putting on his slippers. All Rey told him was to not worry. _She was close._

But this was too close for his taste. He would be impressed but Snoke’s Knights of Ren were bad news. Especially since Snoke’s death has caused a power vacuum. Hux pulled out his laptop and opted to first check out the reports from the southern branches. 

His latest modified ecstasy trials were going well. He was pleasantly surprised that the reported side effects were fairly minimal. He liked how men averaged two hours of heightened libido with “giddiness and lightness” rather than dizziness and low blood pressure from previous trials. He let out a soft “Huh” when he saw the note about menstruation pains lessened noticeably in the test subjects who were menstruating during the trials. He quickly wrote his concerns and ideals for the next steps before moving on to the next item on the drive.

He grabbed his headphones seeing it was mic’d up body cam footage. He frowned seeing a trial subject dealing his drugs at a house party. 

_ "Yeah, got this from the candy store. Synthetic happiness with no regrets, man,” the young man spoke with a Kentucky accent while leaning towards Hux’s cammed agent. _

_ “What’s inside this?” The agent shakes the little baggy in good view of the body cam. _

Hux frowned pausing the video. It was a third -at most- of a ground up powder in his trademark sienna brown. He pulled up the details of the trial subject. Wiilis Dalton, a 23 year old who worked as a janitor at an office park in Baton Rouge. He had good results in the first round. Heart rate and urine tests were the same as priors for the second and third rounds. Hux resumed the video.

_ “This looks like dried shit,” the agent said but still kept a hold of the baggy. _

_ “Nah, trust me. I deal with plenty of shit at work. This, this is primo First Order secret sauce. Boss man searching that holy grail high and he got it,” Willis sipped his beer. “$40 for that snort.” _

_ “Who’s First Order,” the agent feigned interest. “Can you get more? Cus if I like it, I’m gonna need more.” _

_ “Uh, yeah. I can get more,” Willis rolled his shoulders inward as he nodded more to reassure himself. “It would have to be next Wednesday, but yeah. Could get you a couple of hits. First Order is like the illuminati for drugs, man. You have to just say yes whenever the opportunity comes around.” _

Hux overlooked his feeling of unease seeing there were seven more minutes of footage. Willis was an idiot. Hux’s organization was more of an ethical pharmaceutical company than any tied down to the cucked fantasies of social order.

Sure enough the agent apprehended and disposed of Willis after interrogating who else he sold to. It was only one other. Willis’ fling, Trudy Roberts, lived in the apartment above him. She passed from an OD the following day. She said snorting the pill was good but not great. And with the occasional nose bleed. It truly was a mercy killing since the drug relied on the stomach acid. Hux sighed, rubbing his eyes before reading what his head of security wanted to implement in the trials.

“Knock, knock,” Rey alerted him from outside of his door. He blinked and realized the four hours went by fast. 

He unlocked the door, “Thank you. Have time to sit?”

Rey gave a nod while handing him his breakfast tray, “Yeah. Car’s empty, I can talk.”

Hux sat down on the bed and gave the space next to him a pat, “I haven’t had time to review your drives.”

Rey rolls her eyes, “Louisiana more interesting than your sister’s abduction? Great.”

“Hush,” Hux sat the tray on his lap. He opened up the covered plate and chuckled at the jammy smiley face on his toast and his precut omelette. Rey always surprised him in the sweetest ways. “I wanted to get the boring stuff out of the way first.”

Rey bumped his shoulder intentionally as she settled on the bed next to him, “That’s nice.”

He took a bite of the omelette and sighed at the taste and texture of solid food. He gestured to Rey for her to start her spiel. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the drives and his computer.

“So it was the Hound who killed Snoke last month,” she spoke in a hush tone as she plugged the drive from KR into Hux’s laptop. She opened up the first file to show a good dozen photos of what Hux could only describe as the obliteration of Snoke. He had his suspicions it was the Hound who killed his master. There’s only so much cruelty you can serve before you have to face it yourself. Hux continued eating while deducing how the Hound tore his master in half.

“He’s now insisting everyone calls him Kylo Ren. It’s a huge power vacuum in the syndicates but he’s working his way into the top position. There was a hit on me from Pryde and Kylo offered to make sure the job goes right-”

“Goes well,” Hux interrupts out of the decades old habit educating his sister. 

Rey huffs, rolling her eyes dropping a file folder onto his computer before ejecting her drive and plugging in Kylo’s. 

Hux let her ignore him for a minute before asking, “Why did you show up in Maple Hill?”

“Because this,” Rey clicked on the first file, a video. Hux had never seen the man’s face this up close before. He had worn a motorcycle helmet of Snoke’s choosing in the few encounters they had. The man was unshaven with dark shadows under his tired eyes. The fluorescent lighting of what seemed to be a parking garage did no favors. His soft chin tucked and broad shoulders rolled inward in order to look down at the camera. It seemed like Rey was filming. If Hux hadn’t seen the carnage the Hound released first hand, he would’ve found Kylo charming. Hux tried to hide his reaction by taking a sip of coffee from his canteen.

But Rey caught it, “Aw, glad you like him.”

“Shut up and play the video,” Hux snipped, feeling his ears burn. Rey hit the play button. 

_ ”Hello, Mr. Hux. You are an elusive creature but Rey isn’t. I thought you kept her innocent- Hn! Hey!” _

Hux chuckles as the camera jostles and a small steel toed boot kicks Kylo Ren in the shin. He hits pause, “Good one, sis.”

“He’s such a puppy dog!” Rey giggles before hitting play again.

_ “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Kylo mouths at Rey before composing himself for the camera. “Hello, Mr. Hux. You are an elusive creature to find.” _

_ He takes a pause, clearly looking at Rey again and then to the camera, “I want to offer unity between our organizations. Pryde had caught wind of Rey’s connection to you. The familial one, only. He wanted to send a message by placing a hit on her. I did not approve it. He attempted to go around me and set one of his goons after Rey. I proved and prevented it to Rey. I will be escorting her out of Chicago to one of my safe houses.” _

By now he’s tensed up into the body language Hux remembers. Imposing, passionate.

_ ”As to show my hand, I will give Rey the means to exact her revenge without revealing her. I want to work with you, Hux. Your ideology is what I had hoped Snoke’s was. But all he did was lie and destroy.” _

Hux was finishing up his omelette but felt sudden pangs of hunger. He did not anticipate this was the undercurrent of Kylo. Hux kicked himself for overlooking the man as just an enforcer.

_ ”I require your hand to move forward.” _

Hux frowned as the video ended abruptly, “What does he mean by that?”

“He means,” Rey pulls up the save file folder and opens up all of the files. The top one was a corporate memo from a syndicate shell company. Hux’s blood pressure started to rise. “Everyone on the higher levels of Snoke’s Syndicate wanted to expose everyone else.”

“Fuck, why did Father take that loan?!” Hux muttered under his breath. Their father was an old school sniveling guppy of a crime boss. His only redeeming idea was to utilize the railroad systems of Ireland, the UK, and the US. In the 80s, Brendol took a loan from one of Snoke’s loan sharks to start up his Southeastern seaboard lines of smuggling. He somehow failed to deal cocaine during the decade of nearly open cocaine use! 

Rey leaned against him and rubbed soft circles on his back, “It’s okay. I took care of it.”

He arched a brow, “How?”

She continued rubbing his back while showing the next couple of photos, “As you can see, I used the encryption keys from Kylo to get into Pryde’s accounts. It seemed like Pryde became the old guard’s darling for the head of the Syndicate.”

Hux gave a nod while finishing up the toast, “I figured as much.”

“I flushed out all of his capital and informed the minions that they’re under Ren’s control. They were surprisingly relieved about that,” Rey shrugged. “I guess they knew he was in turmoil following Snoke’s orders.”

“Hm. Where did you flush the capital to?” Hux got up to place the tray on the floor. He hadn’t felt human touch in about three weeks and missed his sister dearly. She sighed contentedly as he scooped her into his arms. He was 18 when one of Brendol’s maids told him he had a halfsister. 

The maid had overheard the men reporting to Brendol that they made the birth mother’s death look like a suicide in the bathroom. Brendol was irate when he found out they didn’t know where the child was but insisted on playing their evening long poker game. Hux slipped the maid a couple hundred out of gratitude for her following her intuition to talk to him about it. They went to the little apartment before Brendol’s men could.

Hux had been young and ambitious with his eyes set on taking over the world for himself. Then he pulled that little loop of the wood paneling and saw her. Rey was five years old and rocking herself behind the false wall of the bedroom closet. She grabbed his empty hand and held his gaze with such tenacity. He was going to change the world for her. The maid agreed to watch over Rey as Hux set things up for him and his sister.

Even years later, he can’t help but hum the little tune against her hair as she spoke in an airy voice, “Pryde found God. He sought forgiveness and atonement by leaving his worldly possessions to women's shelters of the Chicago Metro Area.” 

Hux chuckled, “Is he still breathing?”

“He was when I left him in Kylo’s care,” Rey shrugged.

“Hm, and the others?”

“I think everyone learned,” Rey trailed off. “I vote yes, meet up with Kylo.”

“Really now?” Hux looks up at the unassuming air vent. “I wouldn’t embarrass your or your friends if I arrange a train ticket for him?”

“We could use one of the charter cars. But I think he’s smart enough to respect this as a neutral zone.”

“Alright. I’ll make up some tranqs just in case,” Hux mutters while figuring out the dosages needed.

“And could you make some more oil while you’re at it? Got a new franchise catering to Hospice care in Iowa,” Rey looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“Submit the paperwork and I’ll make a note to increase the potency,” Hux rubbed her shoulder. “Anything else?”

Rey tensed up for a moment before relaxing, “I’m going to miss this.”

Hux nodded, “I always thought it would just be us in this world.”

She sighed, “You… Nevermind.”

He blinked as she got up, “What?”

Rey moved to grab his tray, “Nevermind.”

Hux felt the dread of insecurity bubble up, “No, what is it?”

Rey stood up looking at him with a sigh, “If-And I mean if- you can work with Kylo well...”

Hux felt the tears well up in his eyes but didn’t interrupt. This was something he was going to hear eventually.

“I want to cash out my shares of the back end and live my life genuinely,” Rey finished. 

“You’re twenty-two-”

“Goddamn right, I am twenty-two!” Rey whisper-yelled at him. “I am not going to risk my fucking adulthood because of snubbed dickwads! They’ve caused too much destruction! You shouldn’t ever have a foundation that fragile! They seriously put everything in Pryde’s pockets! It wasn’t just his own greed! I, I saw things that I did not sign up for. I did my best to turn a blind eye and but I saw an alias of yours somewhere it shouldn’t have been.”

Hux hid the flinch, “I understand.”

Her face darkened, “Oh? You do? You understand that you’ve been lying to your sister about paying for bodies?”

Hux swallowed, “I understand.”

The tray trembled louder than the train rocking. “Say you are fucking sorry.”

Hux didn’t blink, “I am sincerely sorry, Rey. I needed-”

The tray was pressed against his throat firmly, “No excuses. No lies. Tell me you’re sorry.”

Hux cleared his throat after she pulled it away, “I am sorry, Rey. You are always free to leave.”

Rey was still breathing heavily but gave a nod, “Thank you.”

He silently watched her gather herself before she left.

As she stepped out into the hallway, he spoke, “I love you, dearheart.”

“Love you, too,” Rey smiled tiredly at him before closing the door.

He sighed as reality set in. He got up to lock the door and brush his teeth. He stared at the faint indentation of the tray on his neck while he scrubbed his molars. He spat and gargled before slipping under the covers.

A stray thought flitted through his mind.

_ Why is Rey pushing me towards him? _

He tried to fall asleep but he opened his laptop in defeat. Lying on his side, he opened the video up of Kylo making his case. Hux stared at the frame of Kylo grimacing from Rey’s kick. He pressed the right arrow until he found the beautiful still of Kylo’s mouth open, eyes shining with conviction. Hux slipped his hand into his sweats and stroked himself slowly.

He didn’t think about what ifs. He just stared until Kylo’s face blurred as his strokes got faster. He nearly reached completion and stumbled into the wet room to dispose of his release. He leaned against the lightly damp wall catching his breath.

_ No matter what he does for the world, he’s still pathetic. _


End file.
